Chapter 404
Chapter 404
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 404
Chapter Title: Miyamoto Ken (1)
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All the energy in her body surged toward both eyes.
At the same time, all her senses focused solely on her eyeballs.
The muscles around her eyes twitched, her nerves standing on end.
'I see. So this is...'
Hella's pupils, dyed orange, fixed on the enemy before her.
The demon dragon glaring at her, channeling its energy to prepare an attack.
And the fully formed strike—enough demonic power to sweep through the entire area in one go.
Two worlds overlapping into one image.
[I am the Demon Dragon Duke—the strongest in the demon world and soon to be the Demon King! You think someone like me will crumble from something like this?!]
Despite no small amount of internal injuries, it was a meticulously crafted attack, so well-constructed that evasion seemed nearly impossible.
But in a situation where the outcome was already known, it was no different from responding after peeking at the answer sheet.
Kiiiiing—
Her pupils turned blue.
The next instant, time froze in a certain area, halting everything within it.
Not just the flow of air and the movement of elements, but even the flow of the destructive energy-laden demonic power flying toward her—all of it.
Slipping calmly through that gap, Hella let out a low whistle.
'This is impressive? It's already this effective right after acquisition. If I can raise the proficiency further...'
She might even be able to stop that demon dragon's time as well.
Transcendence was the realm granted to those who broke through the limits defining their existence and established their own domain.
A lofty proof of stature that imposed one's own laws on the world without being easily swayed by external interference.
Besides, wasn't that Demon Dragon Duke standing at the edge of that realm, a being aiming for quasi-divinity?
Naturally, its resistance to hostile mysteries would be formidable as well.
'The effects of the instant-death evil eyes we used on each other were halved, too.'
Honestly, at this point, calling it "instant death" was almost embarrassing, but that couldn't be helped.
Both the demon dragon and Hella possessed exalted statuses and near-immortal vitality, and while both could use evil eyes, neither had high proficiency.
'Mine can be excused since I just stole and learned it... but for it to be on my level means that guy couldn't fully wield this power until now either.'
Having used the power of the Seven-Colored Evil Eyes herself, Hella could tell.
The limits of this ability weren't defined by what she or the demon dragon had demonstrated.
The Foresight Evil Eye held the potential to peer not just a few seconds ahead, but into the true "future," and the Stasis Evil Eye could halt time across an entire region.
And the same went for the Annihilation Evil Eye and the others.
'It was forcibly stripped away, and since it wasn't used by the original owners, the Evil Eye Tribe, it couldn't grow further from the moment it was taken.'
But Hella was different; the blood of the Evil Eye Tribe flowed through half her body.
She had heard about the Evil Eye Tribe from Liliana, the grand matriarch of the Dream Walkers.
They had been nearly wiped out due to the Demon Dragon Duke, making survivors hard to find now, but originally, they were a resilient race acknowledged by all in the demon world.
Born with a single evil eye, they spent their lives honing it, striving to surpass the limits bestowed upon them.
Just as the Dominion Evil Eye Hella inherited could exert control not just over living individuals, but over the world itself.
'Comparing it to the others, the difference is clear. Using the Demon King's eyeball as a medium must have let me inherit some proficiency in dominion.'
But the other abilities, obtained through shortcuts, had to start from scratch.
Considering that even those with one evil eye devoted their lives to refining it, having seven abilities via the Seven-Colored Evil Eyes wasn't entirely advantageous.
With resources not concentrated, all the abilities might remain mediocre.
'My blood's boiling! As expected, evil eye battles are essential in ability showdowns! And having seven of them...!'
Of course, such concerns only applied in general cases.
It didn't matter to Hella.
With all sorts of growth bonuses, she developed far faster than others, so more abilities were always better.
Plus, she had the expensive but worthwhile 『Growth Elixir (7 Days) (200,000)』!
And factoring in the potential of her body as a "Demon King"...
[Grrrh—! Don't make me laugh! How long do you think you can keep spamming that power?!]
As if reading her exhilarated thoughts, the demon dragon roared ferociously.
It wasn't entirely wrong.
Despite her vast mana reserves, the energy consumption was burdensome, and the mental resources required to activate each one were not negligible.
'Maybe because each one embodies its own mystery. They don't mesh well with magic or other abilities.'
That explained why the Demon Dragon Duke, already overwhelmingly powerful without evil eyes, hadn't used them freely.
For him, this ungrowable ability was merely supplementary.
"Well, we'll see about that once I try, right? Unlike you, I'm a proper inheritor. I get why you'd assume I'd fail since you did... but hmm, that's kinda pathetic?"
[...You insolent cur! Die!]
The Demon Dragon Duke Crushaier flew into a rage at the mocking truth, unable to retort.
The smile playing on Hella's lips as she faced him deepened.
[......!]
Then, at some point.
The demon dragon's movements suddenly halted.
And as if confronted by something utterly unexpected, ripples of emotional turmoil seeped through that ferocious draconic face.
"What's wrong? Forget something?"
Hella teased lightly, but it didn't respond.
It seemed like it had received news of a real emergency; its inability to focus on the fight was blatantly obvious.
Her smile only grew thicker.
"Or maybe... a thief broke into your house?"
She tossed out the loaded remark with blatant mockery.
Immediately after, the demon dragon's six eyes bulged, glaring at her.
[...You!]
"Come on, even so, getting distracted like that is kinda insulting, isn't it? You're a duke, but your manners toward a lady are abysmal."
[What have you done, you mongrel?!]
Its body erupted with even more ferocious demonic power than before, as if urgency had gripped it.
But Hella didn't fall for such shallow tricks.
"Tsk tsk."
Kiiiiing—
Her two pupils shifted to different colors.
Foresight's orange and Annihilation's white.
At the same moment, all the demon dragon's secretly prepared escape methods were utterly shattered.
[......]
"Where do you think you're going? Since you've come all this way with such effort, why not play a bit longer?"
She had no intention of letting go of this excellent training dummy.
Facing someone with the same evil eyes was rapidly advancing her own.
And beyond that...
"You'll stick around, right?"
That had been her goal from the start.
[...You filthy mongrel! How dare you scheme like this! I won't let you get away with it!]
Accepting it couldn't break through her interference and escape, the Demon Dragon Duke bellowed in fury.
Watching him struggle, her red lips curved into a radiant smile.
Seeing others in distress was this enjoyable? She truly was irredeemable as a demon.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ At the same time Hella and the Demon Dragon Duke were clashing fiercely.
"Well then, shall we get started?"
Miyamoto Ken stretched slowly and headed toward his destination.
With the Demon Dragon Duke away from its lair, now was the perfect timing to begin—no need to hesitate.
'Of course, not all problems are solved yet...'
Marquis-level demon Sodien, guarding this rearmost area without joining the battlefield.
She was a powerhouse far beyond what Ken, a mere count, could handle.
Even a surprise attack wouldn't inflict meaningful damage; he'd just become mincemeat instead.
'But with this guy, it should work somehow.'
His gaze turned to the large-dog-sized three-headed hound trotting eagerly behind him.
He'd learned of the creature—Davidson’s extraordinary nature shortly after receiving it.
'I expected it to be special since Lady Hella sent it, but I never imagined it'd be this much.'
On the day he received it.
Ken brought the caged three-headed hound to his quarters, and the moment they were out of sight, he faced an absurd situation.
"What? How did you even get out?"
The three-headed hound had calmly opened the unlatched cage bars and emerged.
It prowled the quarters like it owned the place, then casually headed to the food storage and devoured the meats inside indiscriminately.
"Hey! Stop that!"
Stunned, Ken moved to restrain Davidson.
The meats were just perks for executives, not something he planned to eat, but he knew failing to train it properly from the start would mean headaches later.
Before being sent to Outerica, he'd been an Earthling who loved animals enough to raise a beagle for over five years.
'Even a Cerberus pup is just a vicious dog at that stage. ...Though I hear its temperament is about a hundred times that of the three hellhounds combined.'
This wasn't just any animal—it was a notorious demon beast from the demon world.
Taming it with ordinary methods was impossible.
'Hoo, but I've raised a beagle for over five years!'
But no matter how demonic, its canine nature remained.
The key to raising canines was establishing dominance first.
It might not be like a regular dog, but imprinting who was superior was essential.
"Hey! I said stop!"
Drawing on that experience, Ken advanced firmly.
Crunch crunch— slurp slurp—
"Kahung~ Kruhung~"
"Krakakak!"
...And he was utterly defeated in the dominance struggle.
By a beast that only reached his waist.
"Ugh... What the...?"
Pathetically sprawled and crumpled, he laboriously lifted his head to look at the victor.
Perhaps because his face was planted on the floor?
As if the light exercise had whetted its appetite further, the casually eating hound's chest tag—"Davidson"—particularly caught his eye.
"...Fine. You win."
Finally admitting defeat, he dropped his head.
Makes sense—it was a monster like that, personally sent by Lady Hella.
Only then did he fully grasp Francesca's words.
'At this level, it can handle a marquis just fine. It'll definitely help with the mission.'
Treating it accordingly after confirming its power was only natural.
A three-headed hound with marquis-level strength!
Just a pup in appearance, but with Duke Gurrang dead, it was arguably the strongest existing Cerberus.
'Don't sweat the small stuff. Focus on completing the objective.'
Sure, getting completely dominated and even losing his bed stung his pride a bit.
And scrambling around making excuses to replenish its food after it wolfed everything down had given him a weird reputation!
'But that life ends today.'
The day of action had dawned.
Ken led— no, followed his swaggering superior, Davidson, toward the underground ritual chamber.
"Puhung! It's Ken. But what's that behind you... Huh? No way, a Cerberus?"
"Yeah. A gift from the guy who came to settle a debt recently. Any issues?"
"Puhuhung— Only you have entry permission. That thing behind can't come in."
The burly gatekeeper blocking the passage to the target—a viscount-level demon resembling a minotaur—snorted repeatedly.
Dim-witted but tenacious, with combat prowess not far below the next rank up, it was favored for such duties among demons.
"Plus, it looks weird? I've seen Cerberus a few times, but this one... uh, how do I put it..."
"That's why it's valuable. Rarer means higher worth—common sense, right?"
"Khn! Common sense. Yeah."
"And it's not here as a demon. It's a gift for Lady Sodien."
"Puhung! Gift? A gift... But it's alive?"
"Could use it as a sacrifice if needed. You know that, right? Live offerings work better than dead ones. Plenty of live sacrifices have gone in there before."
"...Indeed, if it's a sacrifice, live is no problem."
The massive guard slowly nodded and stepped aside.
Just protocol; a pup Cerberus couldn't cause much trouble anyway.
One wrong leak inside, and it'd be slaughtered for sacrifice pronto.
'Good, first hurdle cleared smoothly.'
Thus, Ken and Davidson proceeded into the ritual chamber without issue.
Various security measures lined the passage midway, but they couldn't stop Ken, who had official permission and visited multiple times.
"...Query. What brings you here, Ken? And what's that behind you... a mutant Cerberus?"
"Ah, Lady Sodien."
Finally, they met the marquis-level demon Sodien.
Still using her odd speech patterns, she regarded them with an expressionless face.
Ken quietly swallowed.
All preparations were complete.
Site reconnaissance, internal maneuvering, post-op escape routes, emergency comms for contingencies—everything.
'Phew, do your best, Davidson.'
But first and foremost was overcoming the demon before them.
Without that, the rest of the plan couldn't even start before falling apart.
"I thought Lady Sodien would like this, so... Haha, as a plea for your continued favor..."
"Verification. For such a trivial reason..."
And Davidson.
Had never once disappointed a client on such missions.
The instant her gaze flicked to Ken.
The three heads, blinking innocently, ballooned massively in an instant—
"......?!"
Kwaaaaang!
And swept through the inner space in a flash.